Love Under Two Accountants [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Cara Covington

  Bailey nearly bobbled her drink tray as she realized she was completely and forever in love with Chance and Logan Benedict.

  How had that happened? Damn it, she had decided she wasn’t going to think the “L” word, hadn’t she? Not yet, at any rate. She’d taken on too many changes way too recently, and besides all that, those two luscious accountants weren’t here permanently. They already had found their place, and that place was in New York City. They were only in Lusty to visit.

  Laci set another glass of sweet tea on Bailey’s tray. Bailey yanked her thoughts out of her emotional morass and met her friend’s gaze.

  “I only had an order for one glass of tea, for Grandma Kate.” The nonagenarian rarely came out to the roadhouse for lunch, and when she did, it was usually to sit and chat with her good friend, Angela Monroe.

  Angela wasn’t due in for a couple of hours yet.

  “I know. But I also know that you’re due for a break, and I think Grandma Kate would love the company.”

  “I can’t just barge over there and sit down!” It wasn’t that Kate Benedict intimidated her—exactly. It was more a case that Bailey held the woman in the highest regard.

  Grandma Kate was the kind of grandmother she’d always wished she’d had. If her grandmother had been like Kate Benedict…Bailey pushed the thought away. There was no sense in getting sad over what-never-had-been.

  “All right, I confess. Maybe the lady asked me, when she came in, if she could have a few minutes of your time.” Laci chuckled. “And you have to know, I can’t refuse her anything.”

  “I hear there’s a lot of that going around.” Bailey lifted the tray. “I ordered a hamburger for myself a few moments ago, at the same time as I put in Mrs. Benedict’s order.”

  “Go, sit, have your break. I’ll cover the dining room and bring your burgers out when they’re ready.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” She dodged Laci’s playful swat, her friend’s usual response to being called “ma’am.”

  It really was the best time for Bailey to take her break since the first wave of lunch crowd was over and the second, typically, didn’t start until just after one-thirty.

  Bailey approached the table for four that currently hosted a single, somewhat diminutive occupant. Kate Benedict was staring out the window, looking as if her thoughts were miles away. They must be pleasant thoughts. Bailey intuited that because the woman’s face looked…serene. Some folks looked off into the distance, and their thoughts swirled around work or worry, and it showed. The face often reflected the heart, and if that heart was troubled, the astute observer could see that trouble plainly.

  Bailey considered herself an astute observer, and to her trained eye, Kate Benedict didn’t just look serene. She glowed.

  Puts me in mind of that old television series, Touched by an Angel. Bailey and her mother used to watch that show every week. After it was no longer on the air, and when her mother was showing signs that her disease was progressing, Bailey surprised her with a gift: the complete box set of the series.

  Most evenings, if nothing else had been on the television that had interested her mom, the two of them had sat, side by side, once more engrossed in stories that, while sometimes sad, ultimately left them with a smile on their faces and their hearts uplifted.

  Bailey arrived at Grandma Kate’s table just as the woman turned to look at her. Her smile, one full of heart, immediately set Bailey at ease.

  “Oh, good! I was so hoping you’d have lunch with me today, Bailey. I hope you don’t mind that I asked Laci first. I would never want to do anything to get you in trouble with your boss.”

  “No, ma’am, I don’t mind one bit. I’m so glad you’re here, Mrs. Benedict, and I’m delighted to have lunch with you.” Bailey set the glasses of tea on the table and put the small tray off to the side.

  Whether it was the memories she’d just relived or the echoes of the abandonment she’d felt as a child when her own grandmother had tossed her and her mother out, homeless, Bailey didn’t know. All she really knew, even close to tears, was that she was very happy to see Kate Benedict.

  “Now, Bailey, you really must call me Grandma Kate.” She reached over and placed one hand on Bailey’s.

  Grandma Kate’s neatly manicured hand felt warm and, despite the hint of translucence in the skin, held a strength that quite surprised Bailey.

  “Grandma Kate.” Bailey inhaled deeply and wondered if her table companion sensed the shakiness she felt within.

  “I can’t tell you how much I admire you, Bailey James. Why, to my way of thinking, you’re a true hero.”

  “I am? I haven’t done anything heroic.” She’d heard plenty about the tiny white-haired woman sitting across from her. She also knew Kate Benedict could buy and sell several of the country’s more flamboyant billionaires several times over.

  There was no braggadocio about Kate Benedict whatsoever. She was simply a sweet, caring woman with a servant’s heart.

  “Yes, you are, and yes you have. The way you never questioned the choice to look after your mother, and at such a young age. You put her first in your heart even before she became so ill. And when she could no longer work and couldn’t look after herself, you simply took care of her. I never had the privilege of knowing your mother, but she must have been an amazing woman to inspire such love and devotion in her daughter.”

  Did it surprise her that Grandma Kate knew so much about her? Actually, it didn’t. All things considered, Bailey was relieved that the people of Lusty were careful of who they let into their midst. She met the woman’s gaze and smiled. “I’m not a hero for doing what’s right. Anyone would have done the same. My mother never gave up on me. After Daddy died, and it seemed for a while that we were going to be homeless forever, she never lost sight of the fact that the two of us were a family. So how could I not have done the same when things changed for her?”

  “I’m going to tell you a secret.” Kate leaned forward, and her other hand joined the first so that now she held both Bailey’s hands in her own. “Heroes are people who do the right thing, even in the face of difficulty and even when the doing of it is hard. Oh, they don’t have to do what’s right with a heart that is happy and smiling all the time. Tough is tough, and hard is hard, even when it’s right, and we’re all only human after all. But you’ve done that. You’ve done what’s right. You took care of your mother, regardless of the personal sacrifice required to do so. And I’m here to tell you, sweet girl, you are not alone anymore. Now, I’m simply tickled pink that you and my grandsons Chance and Logan have found each other, and I am praying for all I’m worth that your relationship will work out.

  “But that has nothing to do with us—with you and me. I consider you to be my granddaughter now, and that’s forever. I hope you’ll consider me your grandmother, too. I hope you’ll think of me and mine as your family. I’d be honored if you would.”

  Bailey couldn’t stop the tear that fell or the smile that bloomed. “Thank you, Grandma Kate. I had the feeling, not long after I arrived here, that I’d finally found my place. There’s just something about Lusty…” Bailey couldn’t finish the sentence because her throat closed.

  “You have, indeed, found your place, here with us. Now, Lusty takes care of what belongs to her. I know you’ve been worried that you might have brought trouble in your wake. I know you feel guilty, thinking that others are placing themselves in harm’s way on your behalf.”

  She hadn’t exactly asked a question, but the look in her eye and the tone she used told Bailey that Grandma Kate expected a response. “I do feel that way. A murderer thinks I’ve taken something of his, and…all I’ve learned in the last few days tells me that, whoever this person is, he’s a very dangerous man—maybe even a deeply evil one.”

  “There are more than a few of those in this world, unfortunately.” Kate patted Bailey’s hand. She sat back and took a sip of her tea. “We may not look it, but we’re dangerous, too, to anyone who tries to hurt one of our own. I�
�m going to speak to your men and see to it they show you how to protect yourself. Having protectors is all well and good, but a woman needs to learn to take care of herself, too. My own wonderful husbands saw to it that I could handle myself in any situation, even though they knew I may not ever need to. We have a gun range here in Lusty. We also have a few folks who’re very good when it comes to teaching self-defense. I do believe my granddaughter, Kat Lawson Jessop, is in town.” Kate nodded. “She’s not only adept at handling guns, she has a black belt, or two, in more than one discipline of martial arts. She’s also a bounty hunter.” Pride shone from Grandma Kate with that admission. “You should have seen her in action when that would-be gangbanger tried to take her down. I wasn’t there myself, but Paul, Lucas, and Wesley—my grandsons and her husbands—told me she really kicked butt.”

  Bailey grinned. She wanted to hear the story of how Kat Lawson Jessop had kicked butt. Their burgers were served, and Grandma Kate told her stories of several other of her grandchildren—a lot of them granddaughters new to the family. Bailey knew her eyes went wide as each amazing adventure followed the last. What struck her most of all was that Grandma Kate was proud of every single member of her family—and there were a lot of them!

  By the time their burgers had been reduced to crumbs, Bailey had a much better idea why Adam Kendall had told her that, quite literally, the town had her back.

  “I really don’t know what it is that criminal thinks I have, Grandma Kate—or how he could have come to believe such a thing. No one, not the cops or the cloak-and-dagger guys, have any idea what it could possibly be.” She shrugged. “They’ve guessed drugs and weapons and great boat-loads of cash, but anyone watching me has to know I have none of that. Heck, I arrived in town with just a couple of medium-sized suitcases and a sports bag.”

  “Maybe what we need is a nice little get-together. I have an idea! I’ll invite all the women for an afternoon tea, and we’ll have a really good brainstorming session, like one of those fancy think tanks I’ve read about online. We’ll see if we can figure things out. In my experience, there’s not much that a determined and clever group of women can’t do.”

  “Should we talk this idea over with Sheriff Kendall, first?”

  Grandma Kate waved her hand in the air, clearly dismissing the suggestion. “No, we don’t need to trouble Adam…or any of the other men, for that matter. After all, we’re just going to have tea, cookies, and conversation. Nothing could possibly go wrong, and Adam and the rest of them would just get their blood pressure elevated fretting over every possible ‘what if.’” She leaned forward again and lowered her voice. “Those dear boys are doing some heavy-duty planning and brainstorming of their own, believe me. They take a great deal of pride in being ready for any eventuality and taking care of us women folk, and there’s no need for us to interfere in that, now is there?”

  The date was set for next week. Grandma Kate was right. They were just going to have tea, cookies, and toss some ideas around. There was no need to tell the men anything. If they came up with a plan or figured out what it was Bailey was supposed to have that the murderer wanted, well, then that would be another thing altogether.

  Bailey was looking forward to spending more time with Grandma Kate and getting to know the other women of Lusty, especially after hearing the stories Grandma Kate had just shared. It would be a fun afternoon, and she was as certain as she could be that there was no need to mention the topic that would be under discussion to Chance or Logan or even to Adam.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Let’s take a minute and discuss what we’ve got so far.” Chance sat back and reached for his coffee, gone cold now, but, for him, still drinkable. They’d been silent for a couple of hours as they worked this, their second session of the day. Chance was beginning to get some glimmers, and he wanted to know if Logan was in the same place.

  Logan looked up, his gaze leaving his computer screen to focus on his brother. “I’m seeing a pattern here. Looking at Townsend’s travel expenses, every other trip, for the last year and a half, has taken him to Africa.”

  “I noticed that.” Chance nodded. He’d gotten used to the sounds of installation in the background and the low hum of voices as Damion Quest conversed with Mel Richardson and Connor Talbot while they put in the surveillance equipment their boss, Porter Wells, had authorized. Chance didn’t know any of those three men very well but felt comfortable because Adam Kendall had promised that the two private detectives were more than trustworthy. Adam had also reported that Grandma Kate considered them family. That was good enough for Chance.

  “The trips in between those treks to Africa appear to be to varied destinations across Asia and Europe,” Chance said. They had that much from the credit card records. “Istanbul, Brussels, Paris, London, Berlin. With a jaunt to Africa in between each one, and that trip taking place roughly every other month. Africa, then someplace else.”

  “He flew into Cairo each time but then got on a regional carrier.” Logan grabbed his own coffee, sipped, then frowned down at his cup. Chance’s brother was more of a purist when it came to his coffee. He didn’t really care for it too hot or too cold. He set the cup back down, nudging it away. “There’s nothing here to tell us which regional carrier or where he headed or even if he traveled to the same place each time because he used what appears to be a travel agent to book the interior flights, and no other details are offered.”

  “Which means there are records of where he went, just not here. So, we have quite a bit of progress to report to Porter.” Chance really liked it when the results started to roll in.

  “Porter should be able to figure it out with the information we have. Let’s send him an e-mail, give him as much as we’ve got. At least it’s something,” Logan said

  “At least,” Chance agreed. “Something else I’ve noticed, and I think it’s important. Townsend did a lot of cash transactions—withdrawals on the way to Africa, larger deposits after his other stops. And those transactions don’t appear to have any connection to his import business, to the items he purchased or the cost of shipping. So, what else was he doing?”

  “I’ll get working on that e-mail and include that point. It doesn’t make sense, especially when, in between, the shipments of goods to his warehouse—which don’t happen with every trip—don’t correspond to either of the amounts of the withdrawals or the deposits. In fact, I can’t see how those shipments fit in at all.” Logan frowned as he appeared to return his attention to his computer screen.

  Chance grinned. His brother had already slipped back into the zone. He got up, stretched, and walked over to Logan’s desk. He grabbed his coffee cup, still more than half full of liquid that had formed an unattractive ring around the inside of the cup. “I’ll get us some fresh coffee and check on our guests.”

  He and Logan had different mental processes. Logan tended to focus like a laser beam, sinking into his spreadsheets and closing everything else out. Chance, on the other hand, likened his thinking process to a pot of soup put on the back burner on a low simmer. In time, that soup would be ready.

  Usually they didn’t get to where they already were with this case, mentally, until close to the end of their investigation. That did make him wonder if they were reaching, letting the evidence prove their hunches, rather, as it should be, the evidence providing those hunches. In the next moment, he knew that wasn’t it. Yes, they’d progressed through the data more quickly than usual. It was their connection to this case, the personal angle, that had quite simply lit a fire under their twin asses. They wanted this solved as quickly as possible. Chance paused in the kitchen, looking from the regular coffee maker to the single cup marvel he personally preferred. He shrugged. Might as well make a full pot so the other three could grab a cup, too. He performed the chore by rote as his mind teased the case.

  There was just something about the other destinations that was ringing something for Chance, but he couldn’t quite figure it out. He had no doubt it would co
me to him, eventually.

  He and Logan both believed if they solved this, if they got Porter the information he needed to connect the dots, they’d wind up uncovering who’d murdered Dirk Townsend. Once they knew that, they could capture the bastard, which would make Bailey safe.

  Chance had no doubt that the very visceral connection they had with Bailey was putting just enough extra pressure on them to make a difference in the progress they’d made. But as quickly as things seemed to be revealing themselves through the numbers, Chance was filled with a sense of urgency.

  He felt there was an element they were all missing—and that element could be deadlier than any of them could possibly imagine.

  * * * *

  “You’re even going to chauffeur me to the Big House?” Bailey looked from Chance to Logan. Neither man appeared to find anything unusual in the situation. “It’s not that far. I’m going straight there. I could drive myself, you know.”

  “Hey, we love Grandma Kate. Any opportunity to see her, we’re going to grab it.” Chance’s smile reminded her of a kid who was trying to act innocent—and just falling short.

  “This is an afternoon tea for women,” Bailey said. “Grandma Kate told me she’s inviting a lot of the women in the families, many of whom I haven’t even met yet.”

  “Even if all we can do is say hello and good-bye, yep, we’re taking the opportunity.” Logan’s expression was just as blithe as his brother’s had been.

  “Are you sure this is necessary? Adam said last night there hasn’t been any sign of the man who murdered Dirk and Gary. Maybe he gave up. Maybe he’s lost me and has just given up.”

  “Bailey? He’s also probably the same man who broke into your house—and the storage facility you’ve got all your furniture stored in.” Chance softened his voice, and she understood why.